1) Technical Field
The subject invention relates to a wake enhancement assembly which can increase a wake produced by a hull of a boat.
2) Description of the Prior Art
Water skiing has been a popular sport for many years and recently other similar sports, such as knee boarding, wake boarding, and wake skating, have also gained popularity. Unlike traditional water skiing and knee boarding; wake boarding and wake skating utilize a boats wake to perform jumps, spins, rolls, and other such tricks. In order to enhance the experience, an operator of the boat can vary the speed of the boat to create different shaped and sized wakes.
In an attempt to provide a better means in which to produce a larger or different wake, the prior art has developed a number of alternative devices. One such device is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,549,071 and uses a metal plate which can be hydraulically manipulated to move upward and downward into and out of the water behind the boat. This design, however, only changes the shape or attitude of the wake and does not change the size of the wake. Another design, which is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,105,527, utilizes large protuberances extending from the sides of the hull along with inverted hydrofoil members to produce larger wakes. This design is expensive, especially to retrofit onto an OEM boat, and overly complicated.
Another school of thought is to pump water into a container on the boat in selected areas such that the boat will experience a weight increase. Two such designs are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,787,835 and 6,158,375. Both of these designs have exposed water tanks which are manually filled through a removable filling tube. The filling tube typically includes a manual or electronic pump wherein an inlet is placed outside of the boat into the water and the outlet is mounted to the water tank. The water tank of the ""835 patent must then be strapped tightly down such that the tank does not move within the boat and then the water tank can be drained by reversing the filling process. The design of the ""835 patent is particularly inconvenient in that the water tank occupies a significant amount of space within the cabin of the boat. The water tank of the ""375 patent is drained by manually removing a drain plug. These prior art water tanks cannot be conveniently filled and drained and cannot be filled while the boat is moving.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a system which can provide a significant weight factor to selected areas of a boat, be automatically filled and drained while the boat is stationary or moving, be relatively inexpensive to retrofit to existing OEM boats, not be overly complicated, be concealed within the boat, and can be fully controlled from the helm of the boat.
A wake enhancement assembly for use with a boat having a hull to vary a configuration of a wake produced by the hull. The assembly comprises a first fluid chamber adapted to be disposed within the hull of the boat. At least one first conduit is mounted to and in fluid communication with the first fluid chamber for selectively filling and draining the first fluid chamber. A second fluid chamber is adapted to be disposed within the hull of the boat. The second fluid chamber is separated from the first fluid chamber. At least one second conduit is mounted to and in fluid communication with the second fluid chamber for selectively filling and draining the second fluid chamber. The assembly is characterized by a manifold having at least one inlet and a plurality of outlets. Each of the outlets has a valve disposed in fluid communication therewith. Each of the first and second conduits is connected to a respective outlet such that the valves of the manifold may control a flow of fluid to and from the first and second fluid chambers independently of each other, thereby controlling the selective filling and draining of the first and second chambers for varying the configuration of the wake produced by the hull of the boat.
Accordingly, the subject invention provides a system that can provide a significant weight factor to a selected area of a boat and be automatically filled and drained while the boat is stationary or moving. In addition, the subject invention is relatively inexpensive to retrofit to existing OEM boats and is not overly complicated. Finally, as is discussed in greater detail below with reference to the preferred embodiment, the subject invention includes a control panel such that the system can be fully controlled from the helm of the boat.